Record Lows: Thursday's temps smash 1972 record

Friday

Dec 6, 2013 at 11:46 AM

Kevin Dickinson

Jack Frost has been nipping at more than the noses of Siskiyou County residents this week as temperatures reach record lows.Brian Nieuwenhuis, meteorologist for the National Weather Service Medford, said the cause of this brutal climate is a pool of arctic air dropping into the area.Originating over Siberia, the frigid air moved across the Arctic Circle before hitching a ride on a jet stream and heading straight for the northwest."I think you'll find most places hit a record low (yesterday) morning," Nieuwenhuis said.According to the National Weather Service's data, Montague hit a record low Thursday with a temperature of 2 degrees, handily beating its 2009 record of 15 degrees.At 7 a.m. the same day, Yreka was at 8 degrees, one lower than its 1972 record. Nieuwenhuis did not have the information to tell if the temperature fell further after that time.Medford's 14 degrees broke its 1972 record by 4 degrees, but Mt. Shasta missed its 1972 record by one, coming in at 7 degrees.Nieuwenhuis said the reason most of these records stem from 1972 was the result of a similar situation."As for this weekend, we're going to stay cold," Nieuwenhuis said, noting the next coldest morning would be Sunday, with Yreka forecasted for 6 degrees.Nieuwenhuis added any snow would come on Friday and could linger into Saturday morning although it would likely stop falling before sunrise. The 1972 records for next week show Medford and other cities plummeting into the negatives, but this year Nieuwenhuis said, "Things start to recover next week."He added that the weather would likely be back to normal early to mid-next week, and there was the possibility for a standard winter system later.